Mosquitoes and Wind and Rain . . . Oh, My!

This morning I woke up with some pain in my right foot (for more info you can read my post from yesterday about my right foot) so I decided to take it easy this morning and wear my boot. I ended up hanging out at the hotel and did some reading which was fine because I was going to meet Thomas after lunch anyway since he didn't have any meetings at the conference this afternoon. He had a lunch meeting so I ended up eating some leftover pizza we had from dinner last night (we ate at a place called Roxie's on Grand - they have really tasty brick oven-fired pizza) and then he returned to the room around 1:00pm. We then headed out to do some letterboxing,

View overlooking I80.

We drove east on I80 from Laramie to Exit 323 for Happy Jack Road. I was at this exit yesterday because this is the same exit for the Summit Rest Area. Today we traveled on Happy Jack Road to find three boxes - Only in Wyoming (RAC) & State of Equality by preboxed and Happy Jack by team tiger pride. We were fortunate because we found all three. We found Only in Wyoming first and from the hiding spot we had some terrific views and also lots of mosquitoes. And as soon as I took my logbook out the wind got crazy and I had to sit on the clues, baggies and logbook from the box so they didn't blow away. It all worked out and nothing got lost. After putting this box back in place we continued along Happy Jack Road and stopped at the Happy Jack Recreation Area for Happy Jack. I got out of the car and left the door open while I got a pay envelope and I heard Thomas close the door. When I got back to the car he told me that in a few seconds the car was infested with mosquitoes. So I took out some bug spray and we coated our arms, necks, faces and ears - I also had Thomas put some on my back (I seem to attract more mosquitoes than Thomas). As we were getting ready to head down the trail a man and his two daughters were going for a bike ride, he told us about the trail and he asked if we had some spray for the mosquitoes - we said yes and asked if he needed some.

A Mean Little Blood Sucker

He said no, he was going to give us some if we needed it because he said at this time of year this area gets tons of the little blood suckers. So anyway we walked to the Happy Jack Trailhead and headed down the trail following the clues for the box and just as we left the parking lot we started hearing lots of thunder. I hoped that any rain would hold out until we found the box and returned to the car. We weren't so lucky but it wasn't too bad - a very fine drizzle for only a few minutes was all we got. As we made our way up the trail I used the clues to wave about to try and hold off the mosquitoes. Thomas used his baseball cap to do the same and every now and then he wouldhit me on the back with it- he said that the mosquitoes were gathering on my back in herds (the term he used). When we finally found the box it was about 20 feet off the trail in a dense stand of spruce trees and for some reason the mosquitoes weren't as bad. Thomas stood near me while I stamped in and used his cap to shoo away the bugs when they did come around and it turned out not to be so bad. On the way back to the car we had to fight them off again, but thanks to the spray we got only a few bites and thankfully the rain wasn't bad at all. We got back in the car and when we closed the door there were quite a few mosquitoes in the car with us. We couldn't open the window to get them out so we had to commit mass murder - there was blood and dead bugs all over. Thankfully I had some hand wipes and we were able to clean the mess up. Once that was taken care of we continued up Happy Jack Road. Not far along we turned onto Telephone Road and traveled just shy of a mile and parked at a cattle guard. The box we were looking for (State of Equality) was about 50 yards up a small hill hidden near a tree with about a dozen small boulders around it. I easily found the box and took my things out to stamp in and all of a sudden the wind picked up and blew a baggy and the box's logbook away. Luckily they went in the direction of the car and Thomas was standing just down the hill and he was able to retrieve both of them. He brought back to me and this time I sat on them because the wind wasn't letting up. And to make things harder it started to rain. Not a down pour but more than a drizzle with large droplets. The tree helped to protect us a bit and I was relieved that there was only thunder and no lightning. I got the box back in place and we headed back to the car. I am moving slow because of my foot and I ended up getting pretty wet before reaching the car. Our plan was to head back to I80 and drive further east to Exit 329 to the Vedauwoo Recreation Area but the rain continued and we decided to head back to Laramie.

As we took the exit back to our hotel we decided to get something for dinner while we were out. I was hungry for a burger so I googled burgers in Laramie and the first place on the list was The Crowbar and Grill (they used two plays on the name of the place - a crow and a crowbar).

Nice Logo

As with any reviews there were both good and bad but for me the good outweighed the bad and we headed there. The guy who greeted and sat us was also our waiter and he couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful (some of the reviews talked about poor and slow service). They have six burgers on the menu and they are all named after birds - Thomas had the Sparrow (regular burger with cheddar cheese) and I had the Crowburger (burger and Italian sausage blend with mozzarella and basil) - my burger was incredible - the Italian sausage gave it a kick. By the time we finished eating the rain had stopped and we still had plenty of daylight so we went in search of two boxes.

First we went to look for Slumdwellaz by Half Empty. This box has an audio clue and when I was putting clues together for this trip I listened to the clue and followed them on google maps which gave me the spot we needed to park and then I made a few notes of the actual hiding spot. It worked out great - we parked right in front of the spot and the car helped to hide me while I retrieved the box. I stamped in while sitting in the car and then made sure to hide it well when I finished. Not too far from this area was the second box I wanted to get - Are We There Yet? How Far Does I-80 Go? by sunflower8 and Kokopelli Krazy. We arrived at the landmark we needed and Thomas parked (again the car helped to give me cover). I got out of the car and only needed to take about 15 steps to the rock where the box was hidden, but I only had to take about 8 steps because the box was sitting out in the open about a foot and a half from the rock. I couldn't believe it survived that. I used the back seat of the car to stamp in and when I returned the box I made sure it was more secure.

It was time to call it a day because I could feel my foot feeling a little stressed (I wasn't wearing my boot because it is too hard to walk on a smooth, level surface much less on a trail or uneven sidewalk). As soon as I got back to the room I took a shower and got my boot on. It is feeling better now and it should be okay. So tomorrow is our last day in Wyoming and Thomas is pretty much busy the entire day and into the evening so I am on my own. Not positive what I am doing but I may head back to Cheyenne for part of the day - we will seen how I am feeling in the morning.